Collapsible baby buggy



Feb. 28, 1950 w. F. WOODS COLLAPSIBLE BABY BUGGY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 19, 1947 W. I? wad/ 1S INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. 28, 1950 w. F. WOODS 2,498,935

COLLAPSIBLE BABYBUGGY Fiied Aug. 19, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Maia INVENTOR 1 I 1 BY n I I I ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE oonLArsIBLE BABY BUGGY Webster F. Woods, Glendale, Calif. Application August 19, 1947., Seria1,No.,769,48,0, (01. 280-41) 5" Claims,

This invention relates tobaby buggies or carriages, and more particularly, has reference to those structures of this type which are collapsible in character.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a collapsible: buggy which can be collapsed with a minimum of effort, and which when collapsed occupies an unusually small amount of space.

It is a further important object of the invention to provide a device of the type stated which, though unusually well adapted to beactedupon in the manner stated above, is nevertheless capable of being constructed with a minimum of expense, economy of manufacture being achieved not only as to time and labor required, but also as to materials used, which need not beexpensive, and very few of which are specially formed.

Although the invention has been illustrated as applied to a baby bu gy, it is to be understood that it could as'well be applied to other wheeled structures, such as shopping'carts orthe like.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of= construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described'and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1' is a perspective view'of' a babybuggy constructed in accordance with the invention, ready for use.

Figure 2 is a plan view, in which side panels of the buggy have been. collapsed,vthis being a first step in collapsing r folding the structure.

Figure 3 is-a view taken on line 3-3 of- Figure 2, the dotted lines indicating the. side panels'as they would appear intermediate their normal and collapsed positions, other dotted lines indicating the path of movement taken by the free edges of the panels in collapsing them.

Figure 4 is a side elevational. view showing the side panels collapsed as in Figures 2 and3, portions of the, handles of the, buggy being broken away, the arrows indicating the paths of movement of the various parts of-the device in collapsing it.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view, portions of the handle being broken away, showing the buggy in fully collapsed position.

Figures is an enlarged detail perspective view showing a connecting means between the side panels and front end panel.

Figure 7 is a similar'view showing the connecting means between the side panels and rear end panel, the dotted line showing a portion of the rear end panel.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the reference character 5 designates parallel side rails-that are fixed to and extend upwardly from the side edges of, a flat bottom 6. Parallel front wheel supporting members 1 are positioned against the outer surfaces of the side rails 5, and are connected thereto in a manner to be described. These members are of relatively elongated formation, and at one end, are preferably connected by a cross member 8 constituting a handle. The other ends of the members carry an axle 9, to the ends of which are connected front wheels Ill.

Intermediate the ends of the front wheel supporting members 1, there are connected thereto hinges H, these being also. connected to rear wheel" supports l2, between the lower ends of which extends the rear axle l-3 carrying rear wheels l4;.. The rear wheel supports I2' are longitudinally slotted as at 15, receiving the pins I6 that project laterally from the side rails 5'. Other pins l1. projecting from the side rails 5 constitute pivotal connections for the front wheel supporting members 1.

A front end panel is designated by the reference character, l8, and this is pivotally connected adjacent, its bottom edgeto' the side rails 5,,as shown at l9, At 20 is showna rear end panel, that is pivotally connected as at 2| adjacent its bottom edge, to saidlside rails 5.

Side panels are respectively designated 22 and 2.3. These. are not connected to the side rails, 5 or bottom. 6, but, instead are connected at their ends to the front and rear end panels.v To the front,v end of each of the side panels, as shown particularly in Figures 1 and 6, is connected by any suitable fastening means, a retaining plate 24,, which is longitudinally and outwardly recessed as at 25. for slidable reception of a rod having one end, bent as at 26 to provide a stop, the other end of the rod projecting from the other; end'of the plate 24, and being formed with av right-angled, bend 21, whereby, to provide an inwardly extended panel-engaging end" 28.

The ends 28 of the pins are received in openings formed in the sides of the end panel l8, adjacent the upper edge thereof.

Similar retaining plates 29 are secured to the side panels 22 and 23 at their other ends, ad-

position, as shown in Figure l, to collapse it, the

first step is to swing the side panels 22 and 23 upwardly and toward each other, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3. As previously mentioned, the lower longitudinal edges of these panels are non-connected relative to the side'rails 5 and bottom 6, and normally, when the device is unfolded, these lower edges are simply positioned against the inner surfaces of the side rails 5 (Figure 1). In swinging them upwardly as indicated, it is seen that they pivot on the portions of the end panel engaging rods that project through the recesses of retaining plates 24 and 29.

Having swung the side panels upwardly as shown, the operator simply urges them rearwardly, that is, to the right of Figures 1 and 4. This causes the end anels to swing in the direction indicated by the arrows of Figure 4., these pivoting relative to the bottom and side rails 5 on the pivot points it and 2!. The engagement of the end panels, at their tops, by the said rods, is also a pivotal connection, and thus, the entire end and side panel structure collapses against the bottom, as shown in Figure 5. The slidable movement of the rods in the retaining plates Z land 29, in this connection, permits sufficient clearance between the ends of the connected panels to permit this collapsing action.

The collapsing of the wheel supporting structure is believed to be sufficiently obvious as not to require detailed description. It is believed sufficient to state that pin it slides in slot I5, whereupon the rear wheel support l2 can be hingedly swung toward the front wheel support .I, the wheel supporting structure being then swung on the pivotal connection ll, so that the various parts collapse as shown in Figure 5.

The advantages of a construction as shown and described may be readily noted, in that the buggy collapses very completely, and when folded fiat, occupies little more space than the diameter of one of the small wheelsindicated. Additionally,

the device is capable of being constructed with a complete minimum of special parts, the forming-of the rods indicated in Figure 6 and Figure 7 being a simple matter permittin considerable economy of manufacture. To unfold the buggy, the operation is only reversed, and it may now be noted that when unfolded, no special locks are necessary to retain the parts in un folded position. The side panels 22 and 23 simply gravitate to their normal position shown in Figure 1, and will not swing inwardly of their own accord, as will be perceived from the construction and arrangement of parts shown. At the same time, the end panels 18 and 20 are prevented from movement in either direction. Similarly,

4 the weight of the body of the buggy itself prevents the wheel supporting members from collapsing.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described, including a bottom portion, end panels connected thereto for movement substantially into the plane of the bottom portion, side panels connected solely to the endpanels for upward swinging movement into a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the bottom portion, a wheel-supporting structure connected to the bottom portion, and means for collapsing said structure along the sides of the bottom portion.

2. A device of the character described, including a bottom portion, end panels pivoted thereto at their lower ends, side panels, connections between the upper portions of the side and end panels comprising the sole support of the side panels and proportioned and arranged to permit the side panels to pivot relative to the end panels, and the end panels to pivot relative to the side panels, and a wheel-supporting structure collapsible against thesides of the bottom portion.

3. A device of the character described, including a bottom portion, end panels pivoted thereto at their lower ends, side panels, connections between the upper portions of the side and end panels comprising the sole support of the side panels and proportioned and arranged to permit the side panels to pivot relative to the end panels, and the end panels to pivot relative to the side panels, a wheel-supporting structure connected to the bottom portion, and means for collapsing said structure substantially into the plane of the bottom portion.

4. A device of the character described, including a bottom portion, end panels movably connected thereto, side panels movably connected to the end panels, front supporting members pivoted to the sides'of the bottom portion, and rear sup porting members hinged at one end to said front members, the rear members being slidably and pivotally connected to the sides of the bottom portion.

5. A device of the character described, including a bottom portion, side rails thereon, end panels pivoted to the side rails at their lower ends, side panels engageable by the side rails, angular rods extending between the upper portions of the end and side panels, said end and side panels being each swingable on the rods, and a collapsible wheel-supporting structure connected to the bottom portion.

' WEBSTER F. WOODS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,769,019 Flagstad July 1, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 497,664 France Sept. 22, 1919 

